Varanus exanthematicus

[Srt14292]

AKA Bosc monitor!

He is here!

Well I picked this little badboy up earlier in a swap.
He is so cool! A really nice green.
He is shedding at the moment just gave him a nice bath. (Shat everywhere)

Heres some pictures!

He is such a little character allready.
Haven't got a name for him yet so any suggestions welcome


:main_thumbsup:

 

[robin]

very nice! how big do these guys get?

 

[Srt14292]

The record is 5.1 feet, but on average I would say between 90cm and 150cm, 3-5 foot, most being around the middle 3 and a half to 4 foot.

He is only tiny at the moment, 6 inches long not including the tail. But a lovely colour coming through hes almost finished shedding.

 

[robin]

you gonna keep him in the back garden when he gets older? :laugh: hehe your guard monitor, instead of a guard dog hehe

 

[robin]

i didnt rcognize the latin or common name given but i see how it's a Savannah Monitor

 

[T&KBrouse]

Aw! :smitten:
Sean, he's adorable!
Congratulation on your new little pup. Raise him well and you'll have a friend for life.

 

[Srt14292]

Never He will be allowed the roam of the house when he wants, Mind you the cats going to have to make a runner when he is out, Yeah bosc/savannah monitor.
Im going to try and find him a leash to take him out on walks when he gets a bit bigger yeah!

 

[Srt14292]

Hell yeah K I love him allready! Hes tongues so cool! Haa I'm easily amused as you can tell. Seems to love having the back of his head stroked allready.

 

[T&KBrouse]

So he's already accepted you touching him without reciprocating with a loud, huffy tail whip??
Good grief, you got a good one! Thats awesome!

(And yeah, I'm jelous! )

 

[Srt14292]

Well sometimes he does the huff but I haven't had a movement of the tail yet which is nice to see, but I spose he got stressed with the move, left a bowl of cat food in there for him to snack on over night, im not sure when he was last fed.
Hopefully all the shed will have come off by tomorrow!
Haha we all get jelous of things we want but can't have it suuucks.

 

[Srt14292]

"He" now has a name Ojo! :main_thumbsup:

 

[Gregg M]

The record is 5.1 feet, but on average I would say between 90cm and 150cm, 3-5 foot, most being around the middle 3 and a half to 4 foot.

Actually most never get past 3 and a half feet... Years ago I had a 4 foot 5 inch male named Mongo... He was awesome...

My advice is keep him hot and feed him a lot... You could end up with a record Sav....
Good luck with him, he is very pretty...

Also what you need to know about monitors is that they do not shed like geckos or snakes... They will shed in patches... A growing monitor will always have skin dropping off in different spots...

 

[Srt14292]

Actually most never get past 3 and a half feet... Years ago I had a 4 foot 5 inch male named Mongo... He was awesome...

My advice is keep him hot and feed him a lot... You could end up with a record Sav....
Good luck with him, he is very pretty...

Also what you need to know about monitors is that they do not shed like geckos or snakes... They will shed in patches... A growing monitor will always have skin dropping off in different spots...

Ah, that would explain it then, I wondered why some parts were now coming into shed. Confused me a little, well he is going to be nice and toasty, got his basking stuff on delivery now hopefully be here by the middle of the week.

Haha im not too sure the Mrs would be keen on me with a record sav, but it would be a nice thing to have, (she doesn't even know they get to 3 feet yet).

Cheers Gregg :main_thumbsup:

 

[gitrdone0420]

What an awesome monitor! My goodness he is gonna be big! Nice pickup! As for the name, he looks like a Jeffrey to me! lol. =]

 

[Johnantny]

Stick to whole foods such as roaches and crayfish. They are prone to obesity when kept too cool and fed heavily on rodents and dog / cat food. They can eat daily if properly heated without excessive weight gain.

Proper husbandry would allow 2 feet of sandy dirt to burrow in, 140F hot spots, ambients in the 80Fs and room to move. A solid ceiling custom cage is far better than free roaming your home or a glass tank.. In general, they require a heck of a lot more than whats served on caresheets.

At this point, leaving the animal alone to settle is best. They are not aquatic so baths to shed are not necessary and wind up stressing the animal more than helping rid loose skin (thats why it crapped all over). To build trust start tong feeding and save the handling until its grown accustomed to you.

Leashes are a restraint- its not going to learn as a dog would. I watched a guy torture his sav with a leash until it turned around and wrecked his thumb in one bite. Well deserved in my book.

Good luck,

John

 

[Srt14292]

Cheers John, yeah I've got some soil ordered just wanted him on towels for the first week or two to check his health over.
As for the hot spots they are going to be all good tomorrow when the equiptment gets here, and the top of his tank is covered as best as can be leaving room for the lamp.
I haven't tried hand feeding him yet im well aware they can lock their jaws so untill he is totally used to me I won't be hand feeding.
As for his custom cage im allready working on it, 8ft long 4 ft wide 5ft high. Solid ceiling.
Glass sliding doors at front 6mm+.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[robin]

Ojo, spanish for "eye"

i love the name

 

[Srt14292]

Ojo, spanish for "eye"

i love the name

Is it? Wow I did not know that, maybe I should have named him blue after hes tongue. Haha, Yeah I like the name too.

 

[Johnantny]

Youre on your way to being a good keeper for sure.

Cheers

John